Seven players were named to the two all-Big East teams, while Jasper Howard was posthumously named the captain of the teams, the Big East announced on Wednesday.

Howard, who was stabbed to death in the early hours of Oct. 18, was a junior cornerback at UConn.

"We regard the Big East conference as the biggest family in collegiate athletics," said commissioner John Marinatto. "As a family, we wanted to respectfully remember Jasper Howard and honor his memory. In naming him the honorary captain of the 2009 all-Big East Team, we have memorialized his name in Big East conference history."

The team was assembled through voting by the conference's eight head coaches. Pittsburgh running back Dion Lewis, a freshman, was named both the Big East offensive player of the year and the rookie of the year - the first player to do so since Michael Vick, from Virginia Tech, won both in 1999.

Pittsburgh defensive linemen Greg Romeus and Mick Williams shared defensive player of the year honors, Cincinnati wide receiver Mardy Gilyard won special teams player of the year honors for the second consecutive season and Cincinnati's Brian Kelly became the first coach to win three consecutive coach of the year awards and third coach overall to win the award three times.

Pittsburgh had 13 players honored on the two teams, the most of any school. Cincinnati was second with 11 players honored; West Virginia had 10, UConn had seven, USF had six, Syracuse had four, Rutgers had three and Louisville had one.